Everett McGill

Ron Perlman

Nicholas Kadi

Rae Dawn Chong

Gary Schwartz

Naseer El-Kadi

Franck-Olivier Bonnet

Jean-Michel Kindt

Kurt Schiegl

Brian Gillin

Terry Fitt

Bibi Caspari

Peter Elliott

Michelle Leduc

Robert Lavoie

Christian Benard

Tarlok Sing Seva

Lolamal Kapisisi

Matt Birman

Joy Boushel

Adrian Street

Martin Ruane

George Buza

Jean Gagné

Antonio Barichievich

Yves Langlois

John Hay

Jean-Jacques Annaud

Gérard Brach

Kevin Ward

Philippe Sarde

Penny Rose

Christopher Tucker

Louise Mignault

Michèle Burke

Brian Morris

Dave Jordan

Normande Campeau

Marie-Josée La Fontaine

David Hynes

Stéphane Reichel

Paul Van der Linden

Linda Preston

Adam Swica

Paul Gravel

Emmanuel Lepine

Paul Morin

Claude Agostini

Kathleen Mifsud

Colette Kramer

Pierre Charpentier

Claude Simard

Jock Brandis

Lyne Desmarais

George Bottos

Michel Chohin

Christophe Bonnière

Larry Lynn

Ellen Chenoweth

Kathryn Casault

Greg Farrow

Keith Woods

Austin Grimaldi

Arden R. Ryshpan

Glenn Berman

Inge Klaudi

Raymond Larose

Brian Payne

Al Smith

Mamade

Sylvie Bellemare

Don White

Martin Malivoire

Fabienne April

Mark Molin

Takashi Seida

David Neil Trifunovich

Andy Chmura

John Daoust

Patrick Clune

Lesley De Pettit

Mario Davignon

Pipsan Ayotte

Micheline Trépanier

Nick Forder

Maris H. Jansons

Matthew Vibert

Robert Guertin

Blanche Boileau

Marianne Coulon

Lois Planco

Maureen Gurney

Thomas Metzger

Michel Larmand

Terry Apsey

Carlo Campana

Michel Girard

Martin Ashbee

David Evans

Denis Dupont

Ernst Haas

Andrée Champagne

Martin Sauve

Joe Grimaldi

Kenneth Heeley-Ray

Sarah Monzani

Jocelyne Bellemare

Denise West

Guy J. Comtois

Karen Hazzard

Rick Anderson

Claude Hazanavicius

Kay Larlham

Luise Massari

Chris Nixon

Dominique Cheminal

Quinn Donoghue

Paul Cadiou

Michael Gruskoff

David Bracknell

Valerie Craig

Angela Heald

Adventure

Drama

La Guerre du feu

Belstar Productions

Stéphan Films

International Cinema Corporation (ICC)

Ciné Trail

Gruskoff Film Organization

Royal Bank of Canada

Famous Players Limited

20th Century Fox

Canada

France

No Language

Quest for Fire

fire

based on novel or book

mammoth

stone age

bear

prehistory

ape man

saber-toothed tiger

cavemen

neanderthal

wolves

cenozoic

CinemaSerf

Without even a bar from "Thus Spake Zarathustra", Jean-Jacques Annaud takes us on some brutal and authentic time travel back to caveman days. That's where we encounter three warriors who are violently dispossessed of their home (and their fire) and find themselves at the mercy of the wilderness, the weather, the wildlife and some other tribesman who are perfectly happy to endorse the kill first speak afterwards philosophy. On that latter point, a whole new series of verbal communications - not words as such - has been developed for an on form Ron Perlman ("Amoukar"), Everett McGill ("Naoh") and Nicholas Kadi ("Gaw) to use as they roam in search of their stolen life giving element. The dynamic amongst the three friends becomes a little complicated when they are captured and escape with the addition of "Ika" (Rae Dawn Chong) who arouses in them passions hitherto suppressed. It's the bleakness and simplicity that makes this film work. They are dirty, injured, bleeding, tired, exhausted - indeed watching it can be quite a tiring experience as nature makes it quite clear that before man began to cultivate it's brain, it was mid-table on the chart of evolution and at a distinct disadvantage most of the time when facing the animal kingdom. Will they find fire? What will they do with it if they do? Well I found myself quite enthralled by their journey, the complete lack of a traditional script and a look at an existence that really was survival of the fittest, tempered by some quite human - even funny - moments.

**_A well-done fantastical portrayal of early humans_**

After a tribe of cave-dwelling homo sapiens in prehistory are attacked by neanderthals, three members of the group (Everett McGill, Ron Perlman and Nicholas Kadi) leave to apprehend fire, since they don’t know how to create it themselves. On their journey, they run into saber-toothed tigers, cannibals, a friendly female in body paint (Rae Dawn Chong), woolly mammoths and Ika’s more evolved tribe where the chief is interested in eugenics.

"Quest for Fire" (1981) is a serious attempt to depict people from prehistorical times in the tradition of “One Million Years BC” from fifteen years earlier (the one with Raquel Welch), although don’t expect any dinosaurs. Like that movie, there's no talking as we understand it; only grunting and primitive lingo.

This of course prevents the flick from being compelling in the sense of interesting or entertaining dialogues, which leaves us with a dramatically dull film with amazing locales and visuals. But there are some worthwhile scenes, such as a member of the Ivaka tribe showing Naoh their advanced knowledge of creating fire with a hand drill.

The special effects were shot live with no optical additions done in post-production. The Smilodons (saber-toothed tigers) were obviously just lions with long canine teeth added while the woolly mammoths were played by trained circus elephants.

Rae Dawn Chong does well in her role as the lithe girl, but don’t expect a stunning female on the level of Lisa Thomas as Sura in “One Million Years BC” or Beth Rogan in the 1961 version of “Mysterious Island.”

The film runs 1 hour, 39 minutes, and was shot in Canada (Greig's Caves on the Bruce Peninsula near Lion's Head, Ontario, and Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island), Kenya (Lake Magadi) and Scotland (the Highlands and Tsavo National Park). I heard the mammoth scenes were done in Iceland.

GRADE: B-

Quest for Fire (1981) - Trailer

Quest for Fire (1981) (TV Spot)

Quest for Fire( 1981)

A Science Fantasy Adventure

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A review by CinemaSerf

Written by CinemaSerf on Mon Nov 27 2023

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